variety

Even if the Cubs hit Craig Biggio with a pitch sometime in the next three games, this year will mark the lowest count of teams that hit Craig Biggio with a pitch since the 2000 season. He's been hit this year by the Mets (2), Brewers, Cardinals (2), Marlins (2), Diamondbacks (2), Reds, Orioles, Rockies (5), and Padres. In 1997, Biggio got hit by 15 different teams - an amazing number, but not a record. Jason Kendall got hit by 16 different teams that year.

Year	Teams	Plunks
2005	9	17
2004	12	15
2003	14	27
2002	12	17
2001	11	28
2000	8	16
1999	9	11
1998	12	23
1997	15	34
1996	12	27
1995	10	22
1994	8	8
1993	8	10
1992	5	7
1991	2	2
1990	3	3
1989	5	6

strategy

The Cubs went into last night's game knowing that not hitting Craig Biggio with a pitch could be a key to the game, and they executed their strategy to perfection. They didn't hit him with any of the 14 pitches they had to throw him.
Carlos Zambrano will probably be trying the same radical strategy tonight. Zambrano plunked Biggio on May 31, 2003 for plunk 222 and August 12, 2003 for plunk 233.
Craig Biggio has never been hit by a pitch on September 30.

year without plunking

If the Cubs don't hit Craig Biggio with a pitch this year, it will be the first time since 1999 that they went an entire season without plunking Biggio. And, they'll miss a chance to move into second place among teams who have hit Craig Biggio with a pitch during the most seasons. The Cincinnati Reds hold the lead in that category, having drilled Biggio in 15 different seasons. They're on a streak of plunking Biggio in 14 consecutive seasons. The second longest streak is only 6 seasons by Colorado and Milwaukee.

Team	Biggio Plunking Seasons	Current Consecutive Seasons Streak
CIN	15	14
COL	11	6
CHN	11	5 (6 if they hit him)
PIT	11	0
SDN	11	3
SLN	11	5
MON	10	0
NYN	10	1
FLO	9	2
SFN	9	0
PHI	8	0
ATL	7	0
LAN	7	0
MIL	8	6
ARI	6	3
BAL	2	1
KCA	2	0
TEX	2	0
CLE	1	0
CHA	1	0
MIN	1	0
OAK	1	0
NYA	1	0

unplunked, playoffs closer

The Astros moved their magic number to 2 last night, but none of the ten pitches thrown to Craig Biggio became his 274th career plunk.
Home again, with the Cubs visiting tonight. Glendon Rusch pitches tonight for the visitors. He threw Craig Biggio's 250th plunk on June 1, 2004.
Craig Biggio has been hit twice on September 29th. Andy Larkin hit him on September 29, 1996, and Kerry Wood threw plunk 195 on September 29, 2001. And, one of Biggio's 2 post season plunks occured on September 29, 1998 by Kevin Brown of the World Series bound Padres.

more alphabet soup

The other half of JimBob's question turned out much less monumentally crazy then he anticipated (at least compared to the part I answered yesterday). Here are the all time HBP totals for batters by last initial through the end of the 2004, first sorted by total plunks, then by plunks per plate appearance for all those people too lazy to copy my data into a spreadsheet and sort it themselves.
M's hold the lead with 8,836 plunks, but E's are hit most frequently with 0.006926 plunks per PA or around 1 plunk every 144 plate appearances.
Also, Craig Biggio has been hit more times then all the players who have ever had a last name starting with the letter Q, U, I or (obviously) X.

	Batters	Plunks	Plate Appearances	Plunks per PA
M	1697	8836	1482025	0.005962
B	1563	8601	1380366	0.00623
S	1589	7900	1308194	0.006038
C	1251	6876	1136585	0.006049
H	1193	5897	994212	0.005931
G	863	5434	816954	0.006651
W	942	4692	827023	0.005673
R	840	4456	746266	0.005971
D	783	4372	693822	0.006301
L	757	3917	618926	0.006328
F	583	3339	511843	0.006523
P	753	3283	569896	0.00576
T	519	3081	490149	0.006285
K	623	2961	500811	0.005912
J	418	2875	422104	0.006811
A	457	2098	411198	0.005102
O	294	1826	306336	0.00596
E	300	1597	230554	0.006926
V	200	1394	209999	0.006638
N	278	939	181410	0.005176
Y	94	695	110829	0.00627
Z	75	365	59338	0.006151
I	43	256	37947	0.006746
U	50	126	32679	0.003855
Q	43	126	22674	0.005557

	Batters	Plunks	Plate Appearances	Plunks per PA
E	300	1597	230554	0.006926
J	418	2875	422104	0.006811
I	43	256	37947	0.006746
G	863	5434	816954	0.006651
V	200	1394	209999	0.006638
F	583	3339	511843	0.006523
L	757	3917	618926	0.006328
D	783	4372	693822	0.006301
T	519	3081	490149	0.006285
Y	94	695	110829	0.00627
B	1563	8601	1380366	0.00623
Z	75	365	59338	0.006151
C	1251	6876	1136585	0.006049
S	1589	7900	1308194	0.006038
R	840	4456	746266	0.005971
M	1697	8836	1482025	0.005962
O	294	1826	306336	0.00596
H	1193	5897	994212	0.005931
K	623	2961	500811	0.005912
P	753	3283	569896	0.00576
W	942	4692	827023	0.005673
Q	43	126	22674	0.005557
N	278	939	181410	0.005176
A	457	2098	411198	0.005102
U	50	126	32679	0.003855

Three more wins, ? more plunks

The Astros magic number is down to 3 today, but there is still work to be done, and many more pitches to be taken for the team. Brad Ausmus got hit by a pitch, and Craig Biggio hit his career best 25th homer of the season, but Biggio did not get hit by a pitch.
Tonight Chris Carpenter will be flinging baseballs in Craig Biggio's direction. Carpenter plunked Biggio about three weeks ago, and also on April 14, 2004. Hitting Craig Biggio with another pitch could really set Carpenter apart from Dontrell Willis in the eyes of Cy Young award voters since both have 1 Biggio plunk this year and 2 in their career.
Craig Biggio has never been hit by a pitch on September 28th.

And, most importantly, Alyson Footer reports that Craig Biggio's mom did fine in surgery.

Plunk ABCs

Yesterday, frequent commenter JimBob asked for a list of the top historical plunk getters by last initial. The problem is, I couldn't imagine presenting such a list in any format but that of the classic children's ABCs books. So you can blame JimBob for the following, or you can print it out, get a muppet to read it to your kids, and be thankful that FINALLY you have a way to teach children the alphabet and hit-by-pitch trivia at the same time. Meanwhile, I'll try to stop Dr. Seuss from spinning in his grave too much, and wait for Jurisfiction to come haul me off for crimes against poetry.

A is for the plunks of Brady Anderson
one hundred fifty four when he was done.

B is for Houston's own Craig Biggio,
two hundred seventy three plunks as you know,
we hope that he still has a long time to go
and he'll break Jennings' record - as an Astro.

C's for Fred Clarke, at the old ball park,
one hundred fifty three plunks before dark

D stands for one named Bill Dahlen, for now,
one hundred and forty plunks made him say "Ow",
but Carlos Delgado is one plunk behind,
when he passes Dahlen we really won't mind.

Kid Elberfeld is our man with an E,
one hundred and sixty five pitches struck he.

F is a catcher named Carlton Fisk -
he wasn't afraid of taking a risk -
his HBPs total one forty three,
but now he's a Hall of Fame inductee

G represents Andres Galarraga,
his long career was a plunk filled saga.
One hundred seventy eight times, the Big Cat,
got hit by a pitch when he went up to bat.

H is for Hunt, Ron Hunt that is,
two hundred forty three plunks are all his

I is the letter for Charlie Irwin,
his sixty one plunks made his manager grin

J is for Jennings, the all time plunk king,
Hughie's two eighty seven is still standing.

K is Jason Kendall's last initial,
his hundred and ninety seven plunks are official.

L is for Lemon, his first name is Chet,
one hundred and fifty one plunks he did get.

M stands for Dan McGann who was sturdy
enough to take plunks numbered two hundred thirty.

N is for outfielder Bill Nicholson
Fifty two plunks are all that he won.

O stands for first basemen John Olerud,
eighty eight pitches have struck this old dude.

P is for Padden, his first name was Dick.
Ninety seven plunks proved that his skin was thick.

Q is for Joe Quinn whose career dates back
to a time before anyone really kept track
of hit batters to whom first base was awarded,
so thirty nine plunks were all he recorded.

R is for Nats skipper Frank Robinson,
whose hundred and ninety eighty plunks weren't much fun

S is the letter for Gary Sheffield,
his hundred and seventeen bruises have healed

T's for Tommy Tucker, maybe you've heard,
his two hundred seventy two plunks now rank third.

U's most hit player was Willie Upshaw,
23 plunks are all that he saw.

V is Fernando Vina's own letter,
one hundred fifty seven plunks - few can better.

W is for Curt Welch, you see,
his plunk total was one seventy three.

X is left out - no one in the game
has ever had X to start his last name.

Y is for third baseman Eddie Yost,
his 99 plunks surely called for a toast.

and Z's for Chief Zimmer, who had ninety one
pitches hit him, and now we are done.

note to St. Louis

Note to the Cardinals: Just think about it for a second - take the next couple of days off, and you get a nice relaxing division series against an under .500 team from the West Coast. Just think about it. But don't think any farther ahead than that.
Matt Morris will start tonight for the Cards. He plunked Biggio on September 19, 2003, and has thrown 48 career drillings. Craig Biggio has never been plunked on September 27th.

pivotal plunker points

120 of Craig Biggio's 273 plunks have been delivered by a pitcher with less than 10 career hit batters.

Only 7 have been thrown by a pitcher with 100 or more career plunks.
He's been hit 20 times by pitchers who had thrown 2 HBPs before hitting him.

The last pitcher to hit Craig Biggio who had thrown more plunks than Biggio had taken was Danny Darwin, who notched his own 68th hit batter when Biggio was hit for the 67th time.

On September 2, 1990, John Smiley recorded his 9th hit batter while delivering Biggio's 9th plunk, marking the only time a pitcher and Craig Biggio reached the same plunk total on the same pitch.

Milestones:
Kevin Brown recorded his 110th plunk by hitting Craig Biggio

Mark Gardner recorded his 50th plunk by hitting Craig Biggio

Jason Jennings, Rocky Biddle, Bob Wickman, Jeff Brantley and Mark Portugal all recorded their 25th plunk by hitting Craig Biggio.

Pedro Martinez recorded his 30th plunk while also notching Biggio's 90th.

Astros off, Biggio busy

The Astros are off today, and Craig Biggio has never been plunked on September 26th, so today we can all focus on wishing Craig Biggio's mother well as she reportedly undergoes open heart surgery today. I think it's pretty clear that toughness runs in the family, so I'm sure she'll do fine, but get well soon Mrs. Biggio.

more wrigley wildcard work.

On September 24, 1997, Mark Clark plunked Craig Biggio and began an interesting stretch of Craig Biggio's hit-by-pitch history. From September 24, 1997 to May 10, 1998, Craig Biggio was hit by Mark Clark, Jeremi Gonzalez (Sept. 25 1997) , Orel Hershiser, Al Leiter, Kerry Wood, and Steve Woodard, making that the longest streak of pitchers to plunk Biggio in alphabetical order.
That will be a tough thing to repeat beginning this weekened, because the Cubs are sending Carlos Zambrano and Jerome Williams to the mound today and tomorrow. Zambrano plunked Biggio on May 31st and August 12 of 2003. Jerome Williams has never hit Craig Biggio, but he has hit 33 batters in just under 3 season.

batters box evacuees

While I have no proof of how often they actually had to get out of the way of a potential plunking pitch, here is a look at some of the best at not being hit by pitches.

Most plate appearance in an unplunked career:

Mark Lemke	3664
Bill Bergen	3228
Mickey Witek	2325
Herm Winningham	2069
Juan Castro*	2027

*Active

Most plate appearances per plunk (at least 1 HBP):

	PA per HBP	HBP	PA
Doug Flynn	4085	1	4085
U L Washington	3124	1	3124
Al Burch	2412	1	2412
John Kruk	2301.5	2	4603
Bob Melvin	2095	1	2095

Most plate appearances per plunk (at least 1 HBP, over 5,000 plate appearances):

	PA per HBP	HBP	PA
Sandy Alomar Sr.	1720	3	5160
Sam West	1394.4	5	6972
Jerry Mumphrey	1386.25	4	5545
Rollie Hemsley	1377.25	4	5509
Garret Anderson*	1364	5	6246

*Active

Most plate appearances per plunk (at least 1 HBP, over 10,000 plate appearances):

	PA per HBP	HBP	PA
Luke Appling	931.181818	11	10243
Harold Baines	792.285714	14	11092
Eddie Murray	712.055555	18	12817
Dave Winfield	494.32	25	12358
Wade Boggs	466.956521	23	10740

The fewest HBPs by any player with as many plate appearances as Craig Biggio (11,301) is 18 by Eddie Murray.

Also, Sandy Alomar Sr.'s single season record of 738 plate appearances without being hit by a pitch appears to be safe. Chone Figgins hasn't been hit by a pitch this year, but he would need to average slightly better than 6 plate appearances per game in the final 10 Angels games (and not get hit by a pitch) to break the record.

Wrigley weekend

The Astros begin 3 games against at Wrigley this afternoon facing Glendon Rusch and the Cubs. On June 1, 2004, Glendon Rusch threw the 250th pitch ever to hit Craig Biggio. Rusch has hit 39 batters in his career, but only 1 this year (Juan Pierre).
Craig Biggio has never been hit by a pitch on September 23rd.

Bagwell

Jeff Bagwell averages 0.208 home runs per game when Craig Biggio does not get hit by a pitch, and 0.221 in games when Biggio gets plunked. Bagwell's RBIs per game improves from 0.698 to 0.847 in games when Biggio is hit by a pitch at least once. Bagwell's batting average dips slightly from 0.298 to 0.291 when Biggio gets plunked, but his slugging pct goes up from 0.539 to 0.552.

49 of Bagwells 449 homers have been hit in games when Craig Biggio got hit by a pitch.

Biggio and Bagwell have been plunked a combined 361 times in games in which both played. 31 of those plunks came in the 15 games when the were both hit by a pitch.

Pirates wisely avoiding the carribean

Craig Biggio had an early exit last night after the Astros jumped out to a big lead, and didn't get hit by any pitches. But the Astros won and the magic number is down to 9. Zach Duke (akea Zach-beard the Pirate) pitches tonight's final game against Pittsburgh. The rookie Duke has plunked 2 batters in his career, and none since he hit Morgan Ensberg on August 12.
Gabe White hit Craig Biggio with a pitch on September 22, 1997.

magic 10

Of Craig Biggio's 273 career HBPs, only 9 have come while the Astros had a playoff magic number* of 10 or less. His most plunk-prolific playoff race was 1997 when he got hit 4 times on the way to winning the division. The Astros went 3-1 in those games. In 2001, he was plunked 3 times in 2 games after the team's magic number moved under 10. The Astros lost both of those games, but they still won the division. On September 19, 2003, Matt Morris hit Craig Biggio with a pitch. The Astros won that game to take a 1.5 game lead over the Cubs. But, while they moved their magic number to 8 that night, the Astros only managed 3 more wins while the Cubs lost just 3.
Last season, Biggio remained unplunked throughout September and October.
Pitchers who have plunked Biggio while the Astros magic number was 10 or less:
Andy Larkin, Jason Schmidt, Gabe White, Mark Clark, Jeremi Gonzalez, Kerry Wood, Dustin Hermanson and Matt Morris.

St. Louis and the Cubs lead the way in this category with 3 each. St. Louis accounted for the last three and the Cubs had the three before that. They each have


*Lame attempt to explain what the magic number is: The playoff magic number is defined as a number of Astros wins and losses by some other team that would clinche a playoff spot for the Astros. Sometimes that "other team" might change over the course of the playoff run, and sometimes the magic number can be unachieveable if, for example, the Astros were behind. If, for example, the Astros finished a season 4 games out of the wild card, their magic number would have been 8 as of the end of the season, but with no games left to play.

The last wednesday road game in Pittsburgh of the season

None of the Pirates plunked Craig Biggio last night, but at least someone flipped the offense switch back to the "ON" position, and the Astros magic number for the wild card is now 10.
Kip Wells pitches for the Pirates tonight. He hit Craig Biggio with a pitch on July 12, 2003. Fellow Pirate Salomon Torres plunked Craig Biggio 12 years ago today - that was the first plunk of Torres' career.

note to Tom Gorzelanny

You might want to hit someone else before you throw inside to Craig Biggio. Of the 15 pitchers who hit Craig Biggio to record their first Major League HBP, only 1 (fellow Pirate Salomon Torres) is still in the league. Only 6 appeared in over 100 games (Torres, Oscar Villareal, Juan Acevedo, Jim Bullinger, Marc Valdes and Jeff McCurry). Only 5 recorded 10 or more wins (Acevedo, Torres, Bullinger, Valdes and Villareal).

Three never hit another batter (Lance Davis, Paul Fletcher and Kenny Greer).

The dread pirate Snell... missed.

14 Ian Snell pitches missed Craig Biggio last night, leaving the Astros with a general lack of baserunners and total lack of runs. Tonight should be a better night for offense with Pirate Tom Gorzelanny mike his major league debut on the mound. If Gorzelanny plunks Biggio tonight he will be the 4th pitcher to do so in his major league debut and the 16th pitcher to make Craig Biggio the target of his first major league hit batter. He'd also be the first pitcher with both a Y and a Z in his name to plunk Biggio. And, he'd become the first pitcher to plunk Craig Biggio on September 20th.

pirates talk

Through 2004, the Pirates had a total of 639 different players get hit by a pitch in franchise history. That ranks them 3rd all time behind the Cubs (665) and the Cardinals (653).
The Pirates employed Benito Santiago, briefly, at the beginning of this season, but he failed to capitalize on his opportunity to tie an all-time hit by pitch record (one which Craig Biggio has no shot at - thankfully). Santiago has been hit by a pitch while playing for 8 different teams. Santiago has been plunked while playing for the Cubs, Reds, Marlins, Royals, Phillies, Padres, Giants and Blue Jays. Santiago is the active leader, although his active status may be questionable, and one of the record holders is still planning on making a comeback any day now. Rickey Henderson shares the record with Todd Zeile for getting hit by a pitch on 9 different teams. Henderson took one for the Angels, Red Sox, Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, A's, Padres, Mariners, and Blue Jays. Zeile was plunked for the Cubs, Rockies, Marlins, Dodgers, Expos, Mets, Phillies, Cardinals and Rangers.

To follow up on the question from last week regarding pitchers who have spent their careers with one team and hit Craig Biggio with a pitch, the list is fairly short. John Smoltz has been with the Braves since 1988. Darren Driefort is the next longest tenured lifer having played for the Dodgers since 1994. After that the next longest careers are Matt Morris with St. Louis since '97, and Kerry Wood with the Cubs since '98. Smoltz and Driefort are the 1st and 4th longest tenured active players in the league right now, with non-Biggio-plunkers Brad Radke and Mariano Rivera tied for 2nd. Once again, long careers with one team are rare, and should be valued much more than they seem to be when people look at the career of a major leaguer.

shiver me timbers, Pirates on talk like a pirate day

The Astros carved out a 1.5 game lead in the wild card race over the weekend, and are rewarded with a trip to play 4 games against the worst team in the leauge at Pittsburgh. Craig Biggio was not hit by a pitch all weekend, but maybe the winds off the river at PNC park will be blowing from the lefthanded batters box to the right.
Matt Morris hit Craig Biggio with a pitch on September 19, 2003.

Also, by coincidence, today's visit to Pittsburgh coincides with international talk like a pirate day. You might not have been able to tell, but this entire post has been written like a Pirate - although I couldn't find many examples of the writings of Pirates all time plunk leader Jason Kendall.

weekend brewings.

The Jeff Bagwell pinch-hit walkoff single is certainly a welcome addition to any pennant race, and I'm very sure Astros fans are glad to have him back, but if Craig Biggio had been hit by a pitch in the process it would have been much better. Here at Plunk Biggio there is a slightly different set of standards for an exciting walkoff win. In Boston last night, the A's faced David Ortiz with runners on first and third and the game tied in the bottom of the tenth. Edgar Renteria had just reached first on a plunk. The A's realized David Ortiz is batting about .999 in potential walkoff situations, so they intentionally walked him to load the bases for many Ramirez. Two Keiichi Yabu pitches later - walk off plunk. Ramirez gets drilled, Red Sox win.

Back in Houston, Saturday's opposing starter is Wes Obermueller, who has not yet achieved the career milestone of hitting Craig Biggio with a pitch. Jason Schmidt plunked Biggio on September 17, 1997.

Sunday's scheduled opposition is Chris Capuano who plunked Biggio on June 12, 2004. Jose Jimenez plunked Biggio on September 18, 2003.

more journeymen

Along with being traded as many times as any pitcher who has hit Craig Biggio with a pitch, Ron Villone also holds a record for pitching for the most teams by any of the 205 pitchers who have plunked Biggio. Villone has pitched for 9 different teams in his career, more than any other plunker of Craig Biggio. Mark Guthrie, Mike Jackson, Danny Darwin, Tim Worrell, Willie Blair, Juan Acevedo, Josias Manzanillo, Jeff Juden, Mark Leiter, Rudy Seanez and David Wells have all plunked Biggio and pitched for 8 different teams.
Villone has also hit a batter while pitching for all 9 teams he has played for. Among pitchers who have drilled Biggio, only Willie Blair, Danny Darwin and Mike Jackson hit batters for 8 different teams.
Villone is 3rd among all pitchers in that category - only Mike Morgan (11) and Terry Mulholland (10) have hit batters for more teams, and only Dave Weathers (9) has done so for as many.

16 pitchers have plunked Biggio for 2 different teams, but none have hit him for 3 different teams.

when Brewers visit, do they bring a keg?

Craig Biggio did not get hit by a pitch last night against the Marlins, but he did contribute 2 rbi and a homer, and the Astros reclaimed the wild card.
Tonight Milwaukee begins a 3 game series against the Astros. The Brewers are the last team with a shot at the wild card the Astros will face this year. But, Milwaukee would have to make up 5 games and pass 4 teams to win the wild card, so they're very likely to be more interested in adding their names to the long and illustrious list of pitchers who have hit Craig Biggio with a pitch. Or, in the case of tonight's starter Rick Helling, he might be looking to add his name to the list of pitchers who have plunked Biggio twice. Helling plunked Biggio on May 10, 1997.

On September 16, 2003, Chin-hui Tsao hit Craig Biggio with a pitch for the Rockies.

supportive

I'm sure enough people will write about the Roger Clemens' teamates coming through with literal and figurative support in a moment when both Clemens and the Astros playoff chase really needed it. Enough other people will write about that so I can continue to focus on who has or hasn't hit Craig Biggio with a pitch. AJ Burnett didn't. He missed Biggio 15 times and gave up an RBI single to him. Neither did Chris Resop. He missed 5 times and walked Biggio.
Rookie Jason Vargas pitches tonight for the Marlins. He has never faced Craig Biggio, but he has already plunked 3 batters in his 13 appearance, and already has a complete game under his belt.
Today is the 9th anniversary of Mark Thompson delivering Biggio's 84th career plunk, on September 15, 1996.

fish or trade bait

Tonight's Marlins starter, AJ Burnett, was the subject of many trade rumors earlier in the season, but the Marlins kept him, and time will tell if they'll be able to resign him in the off season. The revolving door on major league rosters makes Craig Biggio's 273 plunks and 18+ seasons with the Astros that much more amazing. On August 1 of this year, the Marlins traded for Ron Villone, making that the 6th time Villone has been traded. In doing so, Villone tied Jay Witasick for most trades by a pitcher who has hit Craig Biggio with a pitch. Witasick set the record on July 14 this year when he was traded from the Rockies to the A's.
Through 2004, there had been 26 trades in which pitchers who have plunked Biggio were swapped for each other.
Mark Leiter and Manny Aybar have been traded for the most other pitchers who have drilled Biggio, with 3 each. Leiter was traded by the Giants to the Expos for Kirk Reiter and Tim Scott on July 30, 1996 and was part of a package that sent him from Colorado to Milwaukee in exchange for Juan Acevado and others on April 4, 2001.
Manny Aybar was traded from Colorado to Cincinnati for Gabe White on April 7, 2000, and St. Louis to Colorado for a package including Darryl Kile and Dave Veres on November 16, 1999. That trade also sent Juan Acevado to Colorado, making it the biggest swap of Biggio plunkers ever, with 4 of them changing sides.
No pitcher has ever managed to get traded and plunk Biggio on the same day, but Turk Wendall was traded from the Cubs to the Mets on August 8, 1997 and plunked Biggio the following day.

more fish, better bait.

Roger Clemens takes the mound tonight for the Astros matched up against Marlins pitcher AJ Burnett. Burnett plunked Biggio twice on April 25, 2002. Another couple of plunks from Burnett might spark the Astros to score more than the 3.65 runs per 9 innings that they've been averaging in Clemens' starts. Burnett has plunked 7 this year, but hasn't hit anyone since August 19th.

Danny Haren hit Craig Biggio with a pitch on September 14, 2003.

Justice (not Richard) for Plunks

While it's unlikely they'll be asking anything about rule 6.08(b) and its interpretation in game situations, hearings for the nomination of Judge John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court began yesterday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. When Craig Biggio was hit by Dontrelle Willis last night, Judge Roberts became the first person to be the subject of Supreme Court confirmation hearings on a day when Craig Biggio was hit by a pitch.
During the nomination hearings of Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Thomas and Souter, Biggio had 61 regular season plate appearances and 1 trip to the plate in the 1994 All Star game which coincided with the first day of Stephen Breyer's hearings.
Hopefully his first plunk during a confirmation hearing will also turn around his batting stats, because the best batting average he has posted during one was .267 during David Souter's hearings. He batted .250 during Ruth Bader Ginsburg's hearings, and just .208 during the hearings for Clarence Thomas. Not including the All-Star game (0-1, run scored), Biggio went 0-4 during the hearings for Stephen Breyer.

Tuesday the 13th

Craig Biggio's 273rd career HBP was not enough to fuel the Astros offense last night as the lost 8-2 to the visiting Marlins. Tonight Josh Beckett steps right up to try to knock down an Astro and win a prize. Beckett has never plunked Biggio, but he has posted a career high in plunks this season with 7 so far.
Steve Schrenk plunked Biggio on September 13, 1999 and on Friday the 13th of September 2002, Jason Samontacchi plunked Biggio.

273!!!

Sole possession of 2nd place on the all time HBP list now belongs to Craig Biggio. Dontrelle Willis hit him with a 1-0 pitch in the bottom of the 4th inning. Willis also joined Armando Reynoso as the only pitchers who have plunked Biggio and homered in the same game. Reynoso did it on May 13, 1997.

2b or not 2b

Obviously the occasion of Craig Biggio hitting his 600th double couldn't go by without taking a good look at how Biggio's doubles have effected his HBP production, and vice-versa.
While he has doubled in 544 games, and been hit in 252 games, he has only gotten plunked AND hit a double in 50 games. In those 50 games, he hit 56 doubles and was hit 52 times. He has done both most often against the Pirates (7 times), and more often on the road (29 times) than at home.
Biggio has averaged 0.11 HBPs in the 2,001 games he didn't hit a double, .094 plunks per game when he hit 1 double (491 games), 0.12 plunks per games when he hit 2 doubles (50 games), and was never hit by a pitch in the 3 games in which he hit 3 doubles.
In the 2,293 games when he was not hit by a pitch, he has averaged 0.237 doubles, which is not significantly better than the 0.232 doubles he has averaged in the 232 games when Biggio was hit once. However, in the 20 games when Biggio was plunked twice, he averaged only 0.10 doubles.
Biggio has led the National League in HBPs 5 times, and in Doubles 3 times, but never led the league in both categories in the same year. In 1998, Biggio hit 51 doubles and was hit 23 times making that the second best season for doubles + HBPs of all time behind Hughie Jennings' 1896 season when he totaled 78 plunks + doubles. Biggio's 872 career plunks + doubles ranks behind only Tris Speaker who hit 792 doubles (the all-time record) and was hit 103 times.

While Biggio has been hit by a pitch the most on Saturdays, he has hit the most doubles on Wednesdays. 100 of his doubles have been hit on Wednesday, while Sunday and Friday are tied for second with 90 doubles each. However, he has hit doubles at a rate of 0.067 per plate appearance on Mondays making that the leading all other days in that category. On Thurdays he has only hit 68 doubles, but hit one every 18.06 plate appearances, while on Saturdays he has double only once every 22.22 plate appearance (82 doubles). Among the 50 games when Biggio doubled and got hit by a pitch, 12 were on Tuesday.

Overall Biggio has hit more doubles against Cincinnati (60) than any other team, more doubles at Cincinnati (31) than any other road location, but St. Louis's Busch Stadium (30) holds the single stadium record for most Craig Biggio doubles. He has hit 313 doubles at home, 287 on the road, 17 doubles on nights of a full moon, and 2 doubles on nights of a full moon when he also got hit by a pitch.

fishing

Craig Biggio got the day off yesterday after breaking the 600 doubles mark on Saturday, but without number 7 in the lineup, the Astros went unplunked and two runs behind the Brewers.
Tonight the Astros return home to face Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins. Willis plunked Biggio on May 18, 2004.
On September 12, 1997, Chan Ho Park plunked Biggio twice at the Astrodome.

weekend in the land of cheese and beer

The Astros will be visiting Milwaukee's Miller Park for the weekend, scheduled to face Doug Davis, Tomo Ohka, and Rick Helling. Of the three, only Helling has plunked Biggio, on May 10, 1997.
On September 9, 1996, Kevin Ritz hit Craig Biggio with a pitch. Jamey Wright hit him on September 9, 1997. Paul Byrd plunk Biggio on September 9, 1999.
Leo Estralla plunked Biggio on September 10, 2003 at Miller Park. And Matt Beech drilled Craig Biggio on September 11, 1996.

September 8, a day off.

The Astros get the day off today after last night's win - brought to you by a Craig Biggio 9th inning homer. Scott Bankhead plunked Biggio on September 8, 1992 and Paul Fletcher hit him on September 8, 1995.

Wildcard showdown - day three

Vicente Padilla will be throwing in Craig Biggio's general direction tonight at Citizens Bank Park. Padilla hit Biggio with a pitch on May 11, 2003.

John Franco plunked Biggio on September 7, 1993, and Rod Beck hit him on September 7, 1997. While neither recorded a save in the games when they drilled Craig Biggio, John Franco and Rod Beck are the only two pitchers who have plunked Biggio and recorded over 250 saves.

Quality Starts

Of Craig Biggio 272 career plunks, only 75 have come during quality starts by the plunking pitcher (a quality start being 6 or more innings and 3 or fewer earned runs). Of the 14 times the Phillies have plunked Biggio, only 2 of those HBPs were thrown by a pitcher in the midst of a quality start. Only Milwaukee has had a lower ratio of Quality Start Plunks to total Biggio plunks. Colorado has thrown the most Quality Start Plunks, 12, but the Mets have hit Biggio with a pitch 8 times during quality starts and only 18 times overall.

Team	Quality Start Plunks	Total Plunks	Quality Start Plunks/Total Plunk
New York	8	18	0.4444
Atlanta	3	7	0.4286
Chicago	8	19	0.4211
Colorado	12	32	0.3750
Arizona	3	9	0.3333
Pittsburgh	7	22	0.3182
Montreal	4	14	0.2857
San Francisco	5	19	0.2632
St. Louis	6	24	0.2500
San Diego	3	15	0.2000
Florida	3	15	0.2000
Cincinnati	4	20	0.2000
Los Angeles	2	12	0.1667
Philadelphia	2	14	0.1429
Milwaukee	2	16	0.1250

More phillies notes

Jon Lieber pitches today for the Phillies facing. He plunked Biggio on May 9, 1995, but has thrown 1,741 consecutive innings since then without hitting Craig Biggio with a pitch. The Phillies have thrown 1,614.1 non-Biggio plunking innings since the last time they hit him, August 17, 2004.
Craig Biggio has never been hit by a pitch on September 6th.

272!!

Finally, Craig Biggio is tied for #2 on the all time HBP list. Chris Carpenter got him in the 5th inning on a 1-2 pitch with 2 outs. And umpire Greg Gibson seems to have been satisfied with his effort to avoid the plunk. The last time Carpenter hit Biggio, he took Biggio within one plunk of Ron Hunt. This time he moved Biggio into a tie with Tommy Tucker. Maybe we can schedule Carpenter for a record breaking plunk next?

Labor day weekend notes

The Cards had 13 innings to try to plunk Biggio last night, and still couldn't get it done. But at least the Astros finally got the win.
Chris Carpenter pitches today for St. Louis. He delivered plunk 242 last year on April 14th, so delivering number 272 today would be a nice addition to his resume. Biggio was plunked on September 3, 2003 by Kevin Brown, but never before or since on this date.
On Sunday, Jason Marquis pitches for the Cards, but he has never plunked Biggio. On Monday the Astros travel to the Philladelphia for a crucial wild card matchup, facing Brett Myers who has also never plunked Biggio.
On September 4, 1995 Mark Portugal hit Craig Biggio with a pitch, and Xavier Hernandez hit him again the following day. Those plunks in back to back games represent Biggio's only September 4th and 5th HBPs.

Just like in westerns

This year, pitchers wearing black caps have hit Craig Biggio 8 times, while only 6 blue cap wearing pitchers have hit him only 6 times. Only 1 pitcher wearing a red cap has plunked Biggio this year.
Over his career, Biggio has been plunked 129 times by pitchers wearing blue caps, and only 92 times by black cap wearing pitchers. Red caps are in third place with 41 plunks. Pitchers wearing caps in White, Grey, Brown, and Green have combined for 7 plunks, and the old Expos hit him twice back when they had the Red, White and Blue lids.

The truth is out there

Aaron Harang it Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane last night, but he somehow managed to miss Craig Biggio as the Astros completed the series sweep.
Mark Mulder pitches tonight for the Cardinals, beginning a three game weekend series in Houston. Mark Mulder has never hit Craig Biggio with a pitch, but with the Cardinals already having their playoff position all but locked up, they really have nothing left to play for except their place in Biggio plunking history.
John Smiley plunked Biggio on September 2, 1990 and Marc Valdes delivered plunk number 55 on September 2, 1995.

All-Plunk team (battery)

Rounding out the Official Plunk Biggio All Time All Plunk Team is the pitcher, catcher and DH today. If you missed them, take a look at the outfield here and the infield here.

Catcher: Jason Kendall
Pitcher: Eddie Plank
Designated (Get) Hitter: Don Baylor

Catcher: Jason Kendall has been hit by a pitch 192 times so far, 2nd to Craig Biggio among active players and tied with Minnie Minoso for 8th all time. Kendall led the National League in plunks in 1998 with 31.

Pitcher: Eddie Plank is the most plunked full time pitcher of all time, but he won that title with only 24 career HBPs. Plank also hit 196 batters, but players on this team are selected for their ability to get hit, not their ability to hit batters. Gus Weyhing doesn't make it. Tony Mullane received consideration for this slot having been hit 29 times, but he played in the field a little too often, and considering the era he played in, he didn't get hit quite enough. Eric Plunk might have seemed the logical choice for the team bearing his name, but he (disappointingly) never got hit by a pitch.

DH: Don Baylor now sits 4th all time with 267 career HBPs. 163 of those plunks came while Baylor was playing DH. Baylor led the American League in HBPs 8 times and his 267 career plunks are still the all-time American League record.

In total the 12 members of the All Time All-Plunk team have been hit 2626 times - around 3% of the total HBPs in major league history. They have led their league a total of 57 times.

Reds Finale

There were 9 plunks around the majors last night, but the closest one to Craig Biggio was the Reds second baseman Ray Olmedo getting hit by Chad Qualls.
While the Astros old home prepares to become a post-modern Statue of Liberty for the Superdome's hudled masses yearning to flush free, Minute Made park will host the final Reds-Astros matchup of the season. Aaron Harang is scheduled to start for Reds, but he has never plunked Biggio.
Back on September 1, 1989, John Costello delivered Craig Biggio's 6th career plunk. On September 1 1997, Joel Adamson served up plunk number 111 to Biggio.